1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns fishing reels with a fixed spool and a rotary line recovery device in which the line is recovered by holding the spool stationary and winding the line around the stationary spool by means of a coaxial rotary recovery device, means being provided for oscillating the spool longitudinally as the recovery device rotates to distribute the line all along the spool.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In known reels the spool is mounted at the end of a spindle which is reciprocated longitudinally between two positions at which its direction of motion is reversed by a mechanical transmission system operated by the handle of the reel.
Various mechanical transmission system designs have been put forward. That most widely used comprises a transverse slideway, constrained to move in translation with the spool spindle, and a drive wheel rotating about a transverse wheel axis and coupled to the handle; an eccentric crank pin rotates with the drive wheel and is engaged in the transverse slideway, so causing the slideway and the spool spindle to move in longitudinal translation as the handle is rotated.
The drawback of this simple eccentric transmission system is that the winding of the fishing line onto the spool is not regular: the line accumulates at the opposite ends of the spool. This accumulation of line disturbs the unspooling of the line when casting. The longer the spool, the more marked is this accumulation of line. As a result, a simple transmission system of this kind is not suited to the manufacture of a long spool fishing reel, in particular a spool whose length is greater than the diameter of its hub.
Another mechanical transmission system that can be used in long spool reels comprises a lead screw with two opposite pitch threads, disposed longitudinally in the frame of the reel and driven by a system of gears operated by the handle of the reel. A pivoting peg fastened to the spool spindle meshes with the thread of the screw. A transmission system of this kind is particularly costly because, apart from the fact that it requires the manufacture of a complex screw with two opposite threads, it requires the manufacture and assembly of the system of gears driving the screw and the pivoting peg. The manufacturing cost of a transmission system of this kind proves to be an important part of the total manufacturing cost of the reel. This design is also fragile, as the peg part engaging with the screwthread is necessarily thin. Accidental impact to the front of the spool can easily damage this peg part, which is stressed by the impact.
Another known transmission system comprises two pegs offset longitudinally on the spool spindle and bearing on opposite sides of a heart-shaped cam mounted on a drive wheel operated by the handle of the reel. A design of this kind significantly increases the overall size of the device as the drive wheel carrying the heart-shaped cam has a radius greater than the longitudinal travel of the spool spindle of the reel. This arrangement requires an unacceptable increase in the size of the frame.
More recently, document DE-A-4 035 846 has described a transmission system in which an eccentric crank pin rotating with a drive wheel operated by the handle of the reel is engaged in a transverse slideway on the spool spindle. The slideway is curved in an S-shape. The compensation achieved by the S-shape of the transverse slideway is incomplete, and the fishing line still accumulates at certain longitudinal portions of the spool.
The problem to which the present invention is addressed is that of designing a new fishing reel with transmission of longitudinal reciprocating movement to the spool spindle in which the transmission system comprises an eccentric crank pin rotating with a drive wheel and engaged in a transverse slideway of the spool spindle to define a simple, reliable and low-cost general structure and further comprising simple, reliable and low-cost means for achieving regular distribution of the fishing line between the various longitudinal portions of the spool. The invention is directed to designing a transmission system whose various component parts are exclusively driven in rotation, except for the crank pin moving in translation in the transverse slideway, in order to reduce friction and the risk of binding and wear. The transmission system must comprise a small number of component parts and its component parts must be easy to assemble, in order to reduce the manufacturing cost of the reel.